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GOP chairman focused on moving infrastructure package this year

The head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reiterated Thursday his commitment to moving President Trump's infrastructure proposal through Congress this year despite growing concerns that work on the legislation may get pushed into 2018.

Shuster acknowledged, however, that infrastructure will take a backseat as other top GOP priorities are addressed.

“We’ve got Obamacare up first, and then tax reform has to go forward to figure out where the dollars are going to come from,” Shuster said. “And then after that, infrastructure.”

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The comments come amid reports that Republican leadership and the White House are considering punting on infrastructure legislation until next year, which would give lawmakers more breathing room to work on their top issues during the packed legislative year.

Trump made infrastructure investment one of the cornerstones of his campaign and initially promised to deliver a proposal to Congress within his first 100 days in office. But the debate over repealing and replacing ObamaCare is hogging the spotlight for now.

During a joint address to Congress last month, he called on lawmakers to advance a $1 trillion package that will be funded through public and private financing.

The White House has begun to hold meetings on the issue and has directed a team to start crafting a plan, though a timeline and further details on the proposal have yet to take shape.

Shuster has assured that funding for the package won’t all come in the form of direct federal dollars. He said the administration is eyeing things like public-private partnerships, tax reform and toll ways.

“It’s not all going to come from the government,” Shuster said. “There are other places to find those dollars to coble together a $1 trillion.”